The process of producing laminate sheets involves first peeling a continuous strip of veneer (e.g., ⅛″ thick) from a rotating log, segmenting the continuous strip into sheets (e.g., 100″×80″), and curing and stacking the sheets. The stacked sheets are then available for production of a desired laminate product which in the preferred embodiment herein disclosed is the production of flanges for structural support beams.
A primary consideration of the beam producing process is avoidance of junctures or seams which can produce a weakness in the completed flanges. Obviously, end abutting and gluing vertically aligned and stacked veneer sheets, the sheets being 100″×80″ in dimensions, creates a juncture, e.g., every 100″ that is not acceptable. Accordingly, the sheets within each stack are staggered. A first sheet is laid down, a second sheet is inset at one end, e.g., by 5½″ and overlapped at the other end by the same 5½″. A third, fourth and up to any desired number of sheets are laid down in the same way. A subsequent staggered stack of sheets produced in the same manner can then be slid into abutting relation, i.e., with each sheet abutting a corresponding sheet of the preceding stack. The junctures formed by the abutting sheets of overlying and underlying layers are spaced apart horizontally by 5½″. (In practice, the ends are slightly overlapped to insure tight abutment, e.g., by 1″ which compresses the length and the spacing between the junctures.) The numerous sheets, e.g., seventeen sheets of ⅛″×100″×80″ in dimension, each being offset from its underlying sheet does not form a “stack ”in the traditional sense and is hereafter referred to as a fan of veneer sheets. The procedure described is repeated to add fan after fan and thereby an endless billet of interfitted fans.
A process step not described and which is required for the desired bonding of the billet of interfitted fans is the step of pre pressing the stacked sheets. The assembled sheets of veneer (to which glue has been applied) are compressed in the pre-press operation to securely bond the sheets together (top to bottom and end to end). This bonding process was formerly done in segments (batch processing) to accommodate the interrupted assembly of the individual fans. It may be desirable that the assembled sheets and fans are pre-pressed in a continuous operation rather than the batch process as referred to. Accordingly, it is an objective to provide a process for assembling the sheets into fans and the fans into a billet that is more efficient than the prior processes and is considered beneficial to either a continuous feed or an intermittent feed of the billet through the pre-press operation.